What-Cha

Filtered Santa Monica tap water just off the boil throughout. Poured from a pear-shaped purple clay tea-pot into a glass cha hai, and served in a porcelain (“peony”) cup.

7 infusions from 30sec to 2 minutes:

Very pale canary yellow liquor. Floral/grassy aromatics with a hint of warm roast nuts. Sweet palate entry with vanilla, chestnut, grain (cornmeal?), opening out into a complex floral finish with hints of fresh hay and maybe even a whisper of kelp; yields significantly more flavor than the aroma hints at. Soft rounded mouth-feel, medium-finish, no astringency.

The flavor shifts around after the first infusion, with a faint sourness, almost like that of sumac or wood sorrel emerging at times. The distinctive floral aftertaste persists for a long time, though this fades in later infusions.

Maintains its distinctive varietal character, while the (not quite) medium roast gives a bit more interest/complexity – pleased that this option is available.

Here is another review of a December sipdown for everyone to enjoy. As a side note, I should be able to get the rest of the December reviews posted by the end of the week. In addition to the remaining December reviews, I have two other old reviews (one from October that I completely forgot about and another from November that I just haven’t been in the mood to fool with for over a month) that I will also post in the very near future so I can move on to the current month’s sipdowns. I only had a 10 gram sample pouch of this tea and finished it sometime around Christmas. I can be pretty hard on Wuyi Shui Xian at times, but I found this one to be excellent. Had it not peaked so quickly, I probably would have assigned it a score between 98 and 100, but I chose to dock a few points (mostly) due to its rather brief peak and fast yet pleasant fade.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After the rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 203 F water for 6 seconds. This infusion was followed by 18 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and 20 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry leaves produced aromas of black cherry, pine, blackberry, cinnamon, cedar, and blueberry. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of roasted almond, caramel, rock sugar, and ginger. The first infusion then introduced subtle aromas of roasted peanut and cream. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered notes of black cherry, blackberry, blueberry, roasted almond, cream, cinnamon, pine, and roasted peanut that were chased by hints of ginger, rock sugar, malt, and grass. There were also some cooling notes in the aftertaste that reminded me of both tobacco and menthol. Subsequent infusions introduced aromas of grass, tar, baked bread, pomegranate, mushroom, and earth. Stronger and more upfront notes of grass, rock sugar, and malt appeared alongside belatedly emerging notes of caramel and cedar in the mouth. I also noted new impressions of minerals, baked bread, and butter accompanying subtler notes of tar, earth, black pepper, pomegranate, and mushroom. The same menthol and tobacco notes continued to linger in the mouth after each swallow. As the tea faded, the tea liquor offered notes of minerals, earth, pine, mushroom, malt, cream, and roasted peanut that were underscored by hints of butter, baked bread, black cherry, rock sugar, and grass. Once again, cooling notes of menthol and tobacco were evident in the aftertaste, yet at the end of the session, they were also joined by an unexpected hint of popcorn.

In my opinion, this was about as good as a Wuyi Shui Xian could possibly be. I was slightly disappointed by the leaf quality and the tea’s sudden peak and quick fade, but honestly, this tea was enjoyable enough to almost entirely make up for those two quibbles. What-Cha tends to source some very enjoyable Wuyi teas, and this one was certainly a worthy addition to the stable. If you are able to acquire some at any point, I would definitely recommend giving this tea a shot.

Today I pulled out this sample I received from derk, probably the last one if I am not forgetting some. I have never tried Bai Ji Guan before, but I thought it could be my gateway into WuYi oolongs, as I have had a little hard time with the more roasted ones.

In a preheated gaiwan, the leaves smell of milk chocolate, gingerbread cookies, honey and dry grass. After the rinse, I get mostly quite standard rock oolong smell – mineral with a touch of cannabis. In the empty cup, I can smell mostly floral scents.

The taste of this tea is very interesting, definitely different from any other one I have had. It is savoury overall, but with plenty subtleties. At various times its aspects reminds me of sheng, Dong Ding or Tie Guan Yin. I noticed flavours in the general vicinity of mushrooms, mineral and floral ones.

The mouthfeel is complex too. Honestly, I would need quite a bit more than one session to figure it out. The liquor is thick, soft and slick generally. I also get the a sourness at the very back of the mouth that’s characteristic of TGY. After swallowing, the sensation in the mouth is mostly cooling and a little drying on the sides, while fairly constrictive in the throat.

All in all, an ok tea, but frankly not the most enjoyable or memorable.

This smells divine. Seriously, I couldn’t help but plant my nose in the bag and take a few long drags before getting around to the brewing.

I think I might’ve accidentally brewed it a bit under 185, but the result was still delicious. Strange, but delicious. My first impression was that it still smelled amazing – rice and that light sweet note – but the flavor was all broccoli. As it cooled it cycled through spinach, wet popcorn and settled at something resembling rice once it was close to room temp.

It’s a fascinating oolong and I can’t wait to toss a few leaves in the bottom and have a go at grandpa-ing it while I pack for my next trip.

This is quite different from the Vietnamese GABA Oolong. The aroma of the wet leaves reminds me of yummy fried plantains, the sweetness, and slightly tart aroma. The flavor profile was complex (beyond me).

It was mildly sweet with brown sugar and honey notes. My throat is kind of sore today (hope I’m not getting sick but have no other symptoms.) I found it to be very soothing to the throat due to the thickness and comforting creamy feel. I love to read the great reviews and there were lots of different notes mentioned. This time around, I got the pear, nuts, baked bread, malt, vanilla, and some mineral notes. It is a solid GABA oolong and I look forward to trying it again, perhaps alongside What-Cha’s Vietnamese GABA. I “think” I prefer the Vietnamese one but I recommend both to anyone into GABA oolongs.

5g, 195°F, 110ml, rinse, 8 steeps: 10s, 25s, 35s, 45s, 55s, 65s, 75s, 85s

I decided I couldn’t wait to retry this after drinking their delicious Taiwan GABA Oolong, so I made a cup of this. I couldn’t resist.

This one.

The flavor profile sings to me. Now my sample is all gone. Will be on my next order for sure. Maybe I should also try Taiwan GABA Heavy-Roast Oolong Tea since this one is slightly roasted. Hmm…. :)

Flavors: Apple, Baked Bread, Brown Sugar, Butter, Fruity, Malt, Raisins, Roasted

Free sample of this (Thank you Alistair!) and wow, I feel like I’m repeating myself over and over (I am :P)… But another great oolong from What-Cha.

There is already a very thorough review of this that I love. Although I couldn’t pick out all the notes, I really enjoyed this Vietnamese GABA Oolong. The wet leaves smelled so fruity and laced with a light roast aroma. The medium dark amber liquor smelled delicious, like baked apple pie! I’m currently bringing it through my typical gongfu repertoire (Yixing pot, 5g, 203°F, 110ml, rinse, 7 steeps: 25s, 35s, 45s, 55s, 65s, 75s, 85s) and am currently on the 4th infusion. So fruity, so flavorful and very smooth. It’s a keeper. I’ll be trying the Taiwan version of this soon as I have it on my shelf.

Another awesome What-Cha oolong. After the rinse, the leaves smelled of a wonderful aroma of light roast, sweet honey, some unique notes already stated in the previous great reviews. The aroma alone can put it on another level. It’s lovely. Light amber liquor also with a unique aroma.

Very smooth, sweet and creamy, a fragrant roast but light toasty roast with floral, honey and stonefruit notes. Long lasting natural honey sweet finish. Thick. The balsam menthol is very nice and makes it quite unique.

gaiwan, 6g, 203°F, 110ml, rinse, 7 steeps: 25s, 35s, 45s, 55s, 65s, 75s, 85s

This is the first tea I’ve tried brewing with a more gong-fu-like method. Much more tea, less water, briefer. It’s really unlocked the refreshing flavours for me. Very pleasant. I may need to re-do several reviews brewing in this way.

Those of you who read my reviews are well aware that I am a huge What-Cha fan and review a ton of their offerings. While I am almost always impressed by the quality and tastiness of their offerings, what gets me more about What-Cha as a vendor is their willingness to highlight rarer and more experimental teas. Alistair always seems willing to give a unique tea a chance to reach the Western audience, and I greatly appreciate that. That being said, this tea is another of What-Cha’s experimental offerings. It is a Darjeeling green tea produced from the Japanese Yabukita cultivar that has been processed similarly to a Chinese Bai Cha green tea. That’s right; this is an Indian green tea produced from a cultivar generally used in the production of sencha processed to emulate a specific type of Chinese green tea. Weird? Sure. Tasty? Actually, yes.

To be honest with all of you, I had no clue how to prepare this tea. I do not drink much sencha these days, have very little experience with/knowledge of the unique qualities of the Yabukita cultivar, and prior to trying this tea, I had never tried a Darjeeling green tea. Part of me was tempted to brew this tea similarly to a sencha, though the tea was clearly not processed in that manner. I tried gongfuing the tea at 176 F, and while the results were mostly tasty, the liquor eventually turned a little more lemony than I wanted. Ultimately, I decided to go with a low temperature gongfu preparation for my primary review session. Following the rinse, I steeped 6 grams of the loose leaf and bud mix in 4 ounces of 158 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 14 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry leaf and bud mix produced aromas of hay, green olive, honey, and malt. After the rinse, I detected an even stronger green olive scent along with new aromas of butter and grass. The first infusion introduced a clear mineral scent. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented delicate yet lively notes of butter, cream, hay, honey, malt, minerals, grass, and green olive. Subsequent infusions introduced scents of lemon, dandelion, dandelion greens, umami, turnip greens, and seaweed. New notes of lemon, umami, dandelion, turnip greens, seaweed, dandelion greens, peas, and lettuce appeared in the mouth along with hints of spinach. By the end of the session, the tea liquor was still offering somewhat faded yet clear notes of minerals, green olive, grass, and peas that were chased by hints of dandelion greens, lettuce, umami, and dandelion.

Rohini is one of the Darjeeling tea estates that not only seems very willing to try new things, but also rarely if ever disappoints me. Though this offering may have been odd and subtle, it was very sophisticated and satisfying. The texture of the tea liquor was fantastic and the layering of flavors was fabulous. An impressive tea all around, I would have no issue with recommending this one to anyone looking for a unique, challenging, and highly enjoyable Indian green tea.

P.S. After conducting my gongfu review session, I had enough of this tea left to play around with, and at one point, I opted to try to brew it Western style, though I also decided to vary the temperature a bit as I went. I ended up steeping 3 g of loose tea in around 8 oz of 158 F water for my first two infusions. I then conducted a third infusion at 163 F, a fourth infusion at 168 F, and a fifth and final infusion at 176 F. Steep times for the infusions were 30 seconds, 45 seconds, 1 minute 15 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes. The results I got were pretty similar to the gongfu session detailed above, though I did note a few different aroma and flavor components here and there. This time I noted some sweet corn on the nose and in the mouth starting with the first infusion. The second infusion saw some hints of radish come out in the mouth. From the third infusion on, there was saltiness on the nose and in the mouth. It was a very marine saltiness too, reminiscent of sea salt. The final infusion saw cream come out both on the nose and in the mouth. Otherwise, I got all of the same aromas and flavors as the gongfu session.

Moving from Dan Cong weirdness on to something a little more familiar, pleasant, and comforting, we come to this premium jade Tieguanyin from Anxi. What-Cha generally does a good job sourcing Tieguanyin, though their offerings seem to come from different producers more or less every year. Previous Tieguanyins offered by What-Cha have come from Gande Village, while this one came from a producer in Changkeng. This seemed to be a slightly lower grade tea than the What-Cha offerings I have previously tried, but it was still clearly a tea which came from an above-average picking and produced a very satisfying drinking session.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After the rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was followed by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of custard, cream, vanilla, lilac, and grass. After the rinse, I noted new aromas of butter, coriander, cinnamon, and green apple. The first infusion introduced aromas of baked bread and steamed milk. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of grass, coriander, watercress, butter, green apple, and lilac that were chased by hints of cinnamon, violet, custard, and baked bread. Subsequent infusions introduced aromas of citrus, umami, pear, and pastry. Stronger and more immediate custard, violet, and baked bread impressions came out in the mouth along with belatedly emerging notes of cream and steamed milk. Notes of pear, minerals, daylily, apricot, orange zest, pastry, and orchid also showed up to the party. As I ended my review session, the tea liquor seemed to mostly be offering mineral, pear, grass, green apple, and cream notes that were balanced by hints of butter, umami, violet, and orange zest.

This was a satisfying and often interesting jade Anxi Tieguanyin with somewhat surprising longevity and a more overtly savory character than I have gotten out of a tea from the autumn harvest in some time. To me, the differences in terroir between this tea and some of the other Anxi Tieguanyin I have tried were pretty obvious. Even though I saw a little more broken, chewed-up leaf than I would have liked to see, this was still very much a quality offering that I would have no difficulty recommending to fans of jade Tieguanyin.

Hello and Merry Christmas to Steepster celebrators.

I haven’t had any holiday-themed teas to drink besides around Thanksgiving with some less than stellar Republic of Tea blends. This one better fits my preferences and is the closest to that Holiday category simply by name alone: ‘___"Fruit" Cake___’. Heh. Thanks for the sample, Togo :)

Autumn 2017 harvest. I used the whole 6.8g cake in a 150mL gaiwan with 200F water. The oolong cake is really a lovely sight with lots of large whole green leaves with splotches and outlines of pink-red-purple oxidation. It almost looks like there are rose petals in the cake. It brews up a pink champagne color. Unfortunately, this beauty does not translate to beauty in taste.

I did longer steeps with this cake, having had some experience with Zhangping Shui Xian oolong cakes before, starting with 30s and subsequent steeps of 60/30/45/60s.

Despite this being a ‘fruit’ cake, the most noticeable fragrance and flavor was gardenia. I’ve never experienced such a clear gardenia expression in a tea before. It was lovely, yes. There were also light tastes of red cherry, banana bread, rose and green apple that were stifled by the gardenia. The aftertaste was one of the strongest butter flavors I’ve ever experienced, mixed with some cream. The liquor was very drying and left an unpleasant starchy feeling in the mouth long after the sip.

The tea still had more to give but the I wasn’t having it, so I cold-brewed the leaves overnight. The resulting liquor this morning is more palatable. The astringency is tamed but the aroma and taste is one-note with that gardenia.

An awfully chunky, lopsided oolong that couldn’t decide which way it wanted to go.

Ah, another Vietnamese Tea. :D Great reviews on this so I will put in my two cents. ^^

They were small tightly rolled green leaves. No tea dust. The dry leaves had a nice vegetal aroma. After the rinse, the leaves had a orchid, fruity (?), slightly floral aroma. The liquor is a very pale amber. I love the creaminess, the natural milk-buttery-like flavor of a good unflavored Jin Xuan and this one was very smooth and brothy too. It was slightly different to me to the ones that I normally drink (TeaVivre, Mandala, and Theodor), it’s almost like a hybrid of the creamy Jin Xuan combined with the familiar honey-like taste of a good TGY. Vegetal, orchid, creamy, buttery, floral and umami notes. Solid, a little different and good Jin Xuan.

Porcelain gaiwan, 5g, 194°F, 110ml, rinse, 7 steeps: 25s, 35s, 45s, 55s, 65s, 75s, 85s

This was another of my November sipdowns. I think I finished what I had of this tea during either the third or fourth week of the month. As unroasted Taiwanese Jin Xuan goes, this one was excellent. I especially appreciated the complexity, longevity, and thick, full mouthfeel of its liquor.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After the rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was chased by 15 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of cream, butter, custard, vanilla, and gardenia. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of sugarcane, grass, and daylily. The first infusion brought out a meaty, brothy umami scent. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of cream, butter, custard, gardenia, grass, daylily, and orchid that were chased by hints of sugarcane and powerful umami notes. Subsequent infusions brought out aromas of cucumber, daylily shoots, and sweet corn along with subtle orchid scents. New impressions of cucumber, daylily shoots, minerals, sweet corn, spinach, pear, green apple, and seaweed expressed themselves in the mouth alongside belatedly emerging vanilla notes. As I ended my session, I could still detect subtle mineral, daylily shoot, cream, butter, sugarcane, green apple, and sweet corn impressions that were underscored by hints of cucumber, spinach, umami, and seaweed. Interestingly, the faint spinach presence swelled after each swallow, leaving the taste of spinach in my mouth for a short time after the end of the session.

I tend to feel that Mei Shan oolongs do not get enough appreciation compared to those produced in some of Taiwan’s more prestigious terroirs, and teas like this one only reinforce that notion. This was a fantastic offering, one that stood head and shoulders above some of the other Taiwanese Jin Xuan oolongs I have tried recently. If you are looking for a Jin Xuan oolong that provides plenty of longevity and delivers all of the cultivar’s best traits, look no further.

One of a number of lighter, more refined black teas I’ve bounced off lately. It’s malty and fruity, but delicately so. It’s actually a great tea, but I need something more solid in my black teas.

Someone with a better palate needs to add more comprehensive notes.

This is the second note on this and it’s a sipdown but I just have to buy more. It’s one of my favorites. I had mentioned the banana nut bread taste and instead of using a gaiwan as I did the first time, I made a 18 oz pot with 15g of it with several infusions, starting with 1 minutes infusion and working up. That wonderful banana bread taste is stronger brewing it this way. The baked cherry aroma and notes are so yummy too. I’ve been drinking a lot of black tea and pu’erh lately and boom… Just like that my fickle tea self, fell back in love with a good roasted Jin Xuan. I upped the rating more to remind myself, this has got to be on my shelf.

Now I need to compare Vietnam Medium-Roast Jin Xuan Red Oolong Tea. That was my other favorite What-Cha tea (plus the sticky rice one, of course).

Reading the great review on this while enjoying this. I just finished my first steep after a quick rinse. mmmm Like banana nut bread on this infusion. I have many infusions of yumminess ahead of me and it’s just past midnight. lol

Automatic favorite. I loved all their Vietnamese oolongs, and it looks like I’m going to love their Thailand tea too if they are like this one.

Update: 5g, 110ml, 200°F, rinse, 10 steeps: rinse, 25s, 35s, 45s, 55s, 65s, 75s, 85s, 120s, 130s, 140s

I got this because they are sold out of the non-roasted version. It’s a spring harvest 2017, medium roast and medium oxidization 35-40%. The dry leaves were long dark twisted strips with a yummy aroma of roast, floral and nuts. The liquor is light amber. The texture is comforting, smooth and thick. The first couple of infusions were floral, perfumey, light sweetness. Around the 4th steep, I got some roasted nuts notes but it’s still very floral. It’s a perfumed, highly aromatic, toasty cup of tea.

Porcelain gaiwan, 5g, 203°F, 110ml, rinse, 8 steeps: 25s, 35s, 45s, 55s, 65s, 75s, 85s, 160s (still flavorful)

Okay, with this review I am finally working my way back into the teas I have finished this month. I still have a few reviews from November that I need to get posted, but I wanted to move on to something a little more recent. This is a tea that carries something of an excellent reputation here on Steepster, and I was very aware of that going into my review session for it. My expectations were understandably very high, thus my review session could have only gone two ways: I could have come away disappointed, or I could have found the tea to be fairly assessed by previous reviewers. Fortunately, this tea lived up to its reputation. It was excellent in just about every way. As a matter of fact, I was tempted to assign it a perfect score, but chose to dock it a couple points due to a somewhat quick (but still highly enjoyable) fade.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 203 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 18 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of cinnamon, cedar, black cherry, blueberry, orchid, and pomegranate that were underscored by a subtle scent of smoke. After the rinse, I noted new aromas of roasted almond and charcoal that were accented by hints of cannabis. The first infusion introduced an aroma of roasted peanut and some underlying scents of grass. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered notes of pomegranate, blueberry, roasted almond, and orchid that were chased by a pleasant cream taste and hints of smoke, charcoal, and roasted peanut. Subtle notes of grass, cannabis, and black cherry were detectable in the aftertaste. The subsequent infusions introduced aromas of raspberry, brown sugar, plum, peach, malt, candied orange, and baked bread. Stronger and more immediate notes of black cherry and roasted peanut appeared alongside belatedly emerging impressions of cedar and cinnamon. New notes of minerals, peach, raspberry, honey, plum, baked bread, candied orange, and brown sugar were easily detectable, and I also managed to pick out some subtle hints of golden raisin, butter, and malt. By the time I ended my review session, the tea liquor was offering dominant notes of minerals, malt, roasted almond, baked bread, roasted peanut, cream, and cedar that were chased by hints of grass, butter, and golden raisin.

A lively and deliciously complex tea with tremendously appealing texture in the mouth, I immediately understood why this tea had garnered such ridiculously high ratings after finishing my review session. I am a huge fan of Wuyi Qilan, and quite frankly, this one was the best I have ever had. If you get the opportunity to try this tea, please take it. I highly doubt you will be disappointed.

Alright, it’s time for another review from the backlog. This was yet another November sipdown, this one coming from towards the end of the month. Even though I normally do not go for flavored or scented oolongs, this one was excellent.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of the rolled tea and rose petal mix in 4 ounces of 185 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was chased by 18 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, and 30 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, I detected aromas of rose, cream, butter, and vanilla. After the rinse, the rose scent was still present, though I also noted subtle scents of grass and custard. The first infusion introduced a faint sugarcane scent. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered notes of rose, cream, butter, and grass that were chased by hints of vanilla and sugarcane. The subsequent infusions introduced scents of apricot, steamed milk, daylily, and honeydew. New impressions of apricot, steamed milk, minerals, green apple, cantaloupe, seaweed, pear, honeydew, daylily, and daylily shoots appeared in the mouth along with belatedly emerging hints of custard. As I ended my review session, I could still note fairly clear impressions of minerals, cream, butter, rose, and vanilla that were backed by hints of sugarcane, pear, daylily shoots, honeydew, and grass.

I love both roses and Taiwanese oolongs, so I guess it should not have come as a shock that I enjoyed this offering so much. I was especially impressed by how clean and clear the aroma and flavor of rose remained throughout the session, and I was also shocked by the ridiculous longevity of this blend. I am pretty certain that I gave up before it did. Even if you are not a big fan of rose-scented teas, at least consider giving this one a try. The rose and the jade Zhu Shan Jin Xuan worked almost unbelievably well together.

Another great tea from What-Cha. It’s lighter in taste than I expected but I’m pleasantly surprised. Some roasted oolongs I find quite overwhelming and with this one I can have a longer session without my taste buds getting fatigued.
I went western for this session. I always seem to underbrew when I go western style, I’m too impatient, I know.
The first note I got was lovely dark caramel, just on the verge of burnt sugar. The caramel flavor reminds me of my mother’s Greek semolina halva. Then some roasted pear and quince jam and some cinnamon spiciness. All these match pretty well with the festive season. The finish is pretty short but that just beckons you to have another sip.

Such a lovely and delicate tea. Sweet floral fragrance accompanied by a light herbal medicinal note. Produces a light golden liquor with a greenish tint. It’s thick and coats the mouth. The taste is a combination of sweet, creamy floral notes, very light herbal green bitterness and a minty cooling sensation in the throat. The sweet flowery aftertaste lingers for a long time. (I wonder what flower this is.)

I had this for the first time today but I’ll give it another chance before I rate it. I don’t know if I messed up something but this was a really weird experience. It could be that I overleafed or oversteeped it or that I didn’t wait for it to cool down a bit and burnt my tongue slightly. After a decent albeit a bit weak and watery first steep I increased the steep time. The liquor and leaf had a pleasant fruity and toasty smell but it left my mouth bone dry with a slight sour aftertaste and a really baffling saltiness. I could literally taste salt. Weird stuff.

Wow, I didn’t expect this to taste like the real stuff. Freshly cooked rice fluffed with a knob of butter, and those crunchy pieces that are stuck to the bottom of the pot. Om nom nom nom…
The tea leaves are olive green but I could also spot the odd blanched-spinach-green leaf in there, which I guess is safe to assume is the Nuo Mi Xiang herb. Not sure if it’s a rogue leaf or if it’s supposed to be there.
The color of the liquor is pale gold with slight green hints – in-between a sauvignon blanc and semillon.
Back to the taste, in addition to the sticky rice and going in the same direction there’s notes of popcorn. Balancing all this toasty, crunchy goodness is some refreshing greenness that reminds me of stinging nettles tea. This completes the savoury profile and goes well with the buttery notes too.
It’s a unique tea and an interesting experience indeed. I can see myself going back to it once in a while.